Cost of living comparison

Tallinn, Estonia

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Tallinn Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 13.8% more expensive than Tallinn.

Restaurants: pay 21.4% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 61.6% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 20.2% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 1.2% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 35.5% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.2% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 13.8% more in San Jose

The cost of groceries, childcare, transportation, and clothing in San Jose are more expensive than in Tallinn. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in San Jose.

San Jose vs. Tallinn Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Tallinn, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.4% less for restaurants

	Tallinn	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €14.17	$10.83 CRC5,499.19	-32.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.83 €8.67	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	-1.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 €2.27	$1.99 CRC1,012.34	-22.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.07 €1.82	$1.46 CRC741.82	-29.3%
Average			-21.4%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.6% more for groceries

	Tallinn	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.30 €1.15	$2.60 CRC1,318.45	+99.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.64 €4.97	$4.26 CRC2,165.48	-24.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.49 €3.95	$7.23 CRC3,672.41	+61.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.68 €2.36	$3.26 CRC1,656.57	+21.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.44 €3.03	$4.41 CRC2,237.52	+28.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.79	$1.95 CRC990.43	+116.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 €0.55	$0.63 CRC320.02	+1.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.94	$1.59 CRC807.86	+49.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 €1.17	$1.35 CRC684.51	+1.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 €0.44	$1.30 CRC659.83	+157.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 €0.40	$1.19 CRC604.73	+164.6%
Average			+61.6%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.2% more for transportation

	Tallinn	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.92 €6.10	$5.49 CRC2,786.51	-20.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.15 €28.33	$38.02 CRC19,306.95	+18.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,580.66 €26,067.66	$36,925.49 CRC18,749,195.70	+24.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.07 €8.88	$15.94 CRC8,094.23	+58.2%
Average			+20.2%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.2% less for housing

	Tallinn	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.49 €25.99	$53.59 CRC27,213.08	+81.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$743.73 €655.40	$742.08 CRC376,796.37	-0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$530.91 €467.86	$463.60 CRC235,397.07	-12.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$240.91 €212.30	$63.06 CRC32,016.96	-73.8%
Average			-1.2%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 35.5% more for childcare

	Tallinn	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$522.95 €460.84	$521.49 CRC264,791.27	-0.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,258.22 €6,396.23	$12,425.72 CRC6,309,251.58	+71.2%
Average			+35.5%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Tallinn	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.36 €4.72	$2.92 CRC1,480.20	-45.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.87 €3.41	$3.69 CRC1,874.29	-4.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.89 €5.19	$5.05 CRC2,565.68	-14.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.89 €46.61	$59.70 CRC30,313.67	+12.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.72 €9.44	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	-9.3%
Average			-12.2%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.8% more for clothing

	Tallinn	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.77 €81.75	$73.59 CRC37,363.93	-20.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.65 €33.17	$50.81 CRC25,800.37	+35.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.51 €79.76	$125.98 CRC63,969.11	+39.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.44 €101.73	$117.31 CRC59,566.93	+1.6%
Average			+13.8%

Tallinn vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

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